FlightSafety Putting Sims Near Big User

FlightSafety International is targeting new, advanced, full-flight simulators for single-engine helicopters for a center it is building adjacent to Denver International Airport. While the LaGuardia Airport-based training company said this week that the sims could serve law enforcement and other public safety agencies (in an announcement tied to the Airborne Law Enforcement Association’s Expo 2015), their main user will be Air Methods. That aeromedical and air-tours business, based in the Denver suburb of Englewood, Colo., has made a major commitment to simulators for its flight training. It has signed a 10-year deal with FlightSafety for the Denver facility. The new Level D-qualified simulators—for the Airbus AS350B3 and EC130T2 and the Bell 407GX—represent the bulk of Air Methods’ helicopter fleet. (Air Methods also plans to move an EC135 sim to Denver from its Dallas/Fort Worth center.) The 100,000-square-foot Denver center is slated to open late next year.